Québec's blood supplier, HÉMA-QUÉBEC, celebrates its first year of operation today. The organization's first months of operation have been a great success, and can be summed up in just a few words: thanks to the response of Quebeckers and the outstanding work of blood clinic volunteers, HÉMA-QUÉBEC has been able to meet hospitals' need for blood and blood products throughout the year.

HÉMA-QUÉBEC announced today that it is launching a blood filtration program to extract white blood cells from donated blood prior to storage. This process is called leukoreduction. The purpose is to remove most of the white cells (leukocytes) from blood used for transfusions.

Since October 1998, HÉMA-QUÉBEC has been conducting a series of consultations to find a safe solution for the deferral of some donors who have resided in the United Kingdom since 1980. This aims at preventing the as-yet theoretical but nonetheless potential risk of transmitting the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The first chairperson of the Association of Blood Donation Volunteers and the members of its executive board and board of trustees were elected today, Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at the foundation's general assembly in Montréal.

More people than ever intend to give blood in the next twelve months according to a survey conducted by BAROMETRE for HEMA-QUEBEC on January 6. Twenty-one percent of respondents indicated that they were likely or very likely to give blood in the next twelve months, compared with 16 percent last October. Most people give blood for humanitarian reasons and out of solidarity.

The Blood Donor Volunteer Association is launching its first recruiting campaign. All blood clinic volunteers, whether blood donors, organizers or on-site volunteers, are welcome to join the Association. Recruiting activities will be held throughout Quebec between January 20 and March 16. Volunteers in each region will also be electing regional councils during this period.

Quebeckers throughout the province have responded in greater numbers than ever to HÉMA-QUÉBEC's appeal to donate blood for hospital patients. HÉMA-QUÉBEC has been fulfilling its mission to collect, process and distribute safe blood products since its first day of operation. Our staff have been working extremely hard to build public confidence and to make the transition to HÉMA-QUÉBEC as smooth as possible for donors and hospitals," said Dr. Francine Decary this morning at a press conference on HÉMA-QUÉBEC's first three months of operation.